Fairytale Love | Karlnap • Royal Au

Chapter 28

   A prince must be poised, pleasant and presentable, Karl repeated to himself. When all else fails, pretending helps. Goodness, I hope I won't have to pretend tonight. Or punch anyone.

   Trying to calm the butterflies fluttering in his stomach, he smoothed his suit with his hands. His suit was periwinkle (see pic at top).

   He glided out of the duke's apartments towards the Amber Room, the hall adjacent to the ballroom.

   "I saw the flowers," he said softly, when Sapnap greeted him with his arm extended for him to take. "They're beautiful."

   He lifted Karl's hand to his lips, pressing a kiss on his fingertips. "Now there's a piece of your home here, one of your happier memories to make this your home, too."

   Karl placed his hand on the prince's outstretched arm, and he guided him into an anteroom that overlooked the gardens. Outside, the arched trellis she had seen the gardeners begin to construct had been finished; now it was exquisitely braided with pink and white roses.

   As Karl gasped with delight, Sapnap reached for his fingers, gently pressing something into his hand.

   On his palm was a ring, with a simple band of gold, slightly burnished with age, and a pale amethyst in the centre that glittered like a star-filled midnight sky.

   "This was my mother's," said Sapnap. "Nothing would have made her happier than for me to give it to you."

   Karl was at a loss for words. "I've never seen anything so... so..."

   "Do you like it?"

   "I do." He blushed. "I mean, it's lovely."

   Chuckling, Sapnap slipped it onto his finger.

   Sapnap gazed at him tenderly, but he never got a chance to reply. Dream found them. "They're waiting for you both to make the announcement."

   Together, Karl and the prince stepped into the ballroom, hand in hand. No trumpets or royal heralds announced their entrance, and yet everyone in attendance turned to view them, their hushed anticipation almost palpable.

   It wasn't the first time a thousand eyes had scrutinised Karl, but it was the first time he wasn't so wrapped up in the moment of being with Sapnap that he actually noticed it. As if he could read Karl's mind, Sapnap gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, and he smiled at him. Then slowly, one step at a time, he escorted Karl down the staircase to the ballroom floor.

   Immediately, moving like a flock of birds, the guests gathered for a closer view of them.

   'Who is he?' their voices could be heard whispering. 'Could it be he? The boy with the golden ring?"

   Opera glasses and monocles flew the up as guests tried to catch a glimpse of his face, doing their best to identify him. At first, their attention unnerved Karl, but as he drew closer and closer to the king, it became easier to ignore the whispers and the gossip. What made him more nervous was his imminent introduction to King George.

   As the music behind him swelled and ebbed, Karl's heart hammered. Seeing King Techno grimace at him made his anxiety multiply.

   Wait, he realised, he's not grimacing because he doesn't want to see me; he's in pain.

   How different he looked from the buoyant ruler at the masquerade, peering at the guests with his binoculars from his private balcony. Now he was shrunken and pale, his figure slouched against the throne. The king coughed, then straightened as best he could. At his side, the Grand Duke tried his hardest not to smirk.